The invention relates to sharpening devices and more specifically to a device adapted to sharpening the cutting edges of knives and other articles of cutlery.
Persons such as butchers who use professional quality knives in their employment require that their knives have a precise cutting edge on them at all times. The major beveled surface of the knife blade is sharpened by a professional sharpener. For the cutting tip of the blade however, the butcher generally has his own knife sharpening device that he uses periodically. It is this type of device which applicant has designed.
A prior art knife sharpening device is illustrated in the Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 1,041,631. It is hand held and it uses a pair of abrasive members having a flat surface mounted on arms that are pivotal about their top ends. A knife is drawn across the V formed by the adjacent abrasive members and downward pressure causes the arms to pivot laterally.
Another prior art type of sharpening device is illustrated in the Eisenhauer U.S. Pat. No. 1,365,161. It also uses flat surface abrasive members which are oriented angularly in opposite directions to form a V therebetween. A knife is drawn through this V in a similar fashion similar to that previously explained.
The Barsch U.S. Pat. No. 2,124,646 is directed to a knife sharpening device whose abrasive members have an arcuate surface and these abrasive members are mounted on holding elements that are pivotable about a point intermediate their length.
The Lambert U.S. Pat. No. 2,398,711 is directed to a knife sharpening device having its one abrasive member fixedly mounted and its other abrasive member adjustably mounted. A more complicated structure is illustrated in the Blankner knife sharpening device in U.S. Pat. No. 1,909,743.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel knife sharpening device that is economical to manufacture and market.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel knife sharpening device that utilizes rods formed from abrasive material.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel knife sharpening device having unique leg assemblies that are pivotable about one of their ends and these ends are positioned adjacent each other.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel knife sharpening device that allows the knife blade to be sharpened only on one side.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel knife sharpening device that eliminates the problem of having the abrasive that comes off the knife and rod members dropping down into the mechanism and clogging it.